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Show and Tell 2018: Rajee Samarasinghe

Rajee Samarasinghe

Filmmaker

http://rajeesamarasinghe.com/

1. What’s your idea of perfect happiness?:

¯_(ツ)_/¯

2. What drives you to make films?:

Probably ego, attention, insecurities etc.

3. Where in the world would you most like to be right now?:

Scotland and/or Germany where my films will be screening very soon.

4. When inspiration is waning, and you feel creatively sapped, what do you do to stay motivated?:

I just keep working. Eventually something does happen. I treat it like any other job I’ve ever had. That’s usually the best way.

5. What films are the most inspiring or influential to you at the moment, and why?:

I really haven’t seen a lot of films in the last few years but I’ve been jotting down films that either I want to rewatch or something special I saw at a festival or via a link that was sent to me. So, in no particular order, the following films have been fun or useful to me in some way:

BADDEGAMA by LESTER JAMES PERIES
LOSING GROUND by KATHLEEN COLLINS
PANDORA AND THE FLYING DUTCHMAN by ALBERT LEWIN
SIDDESHWARI by MANI KAUL
WAY OF A GAUCHO by JACQUES TOURNEUR
THE GREAT MOMENT by PRESTON STURGES
DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS by HARRY KÜMEL
THE PASSING by BILL VIOLA
EMPTY QUARTER: A WOMAN IN AFRICA by RAYMOND DEPARDON
THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTED by JEAN ROLLIN
THE DAYS BETWEEN by MARIA SPETH
BAD POSTURE by MALCOLM MURRAY
DON’T BE A MENACE TO SOUTH CENTRAL WHILE DRINKING YOUR JUICE IN THE HOOD by PARIS BARCLAY
THE STAR EATERS by PEGGY AHWESH
SCATTERED CLOUDS by MIKIO NARUSE
AGATHA ET LES LECTURES ILLIMITÉES by MARGUERITE DURAS
HALF HUMAN, HALF VAPOR by MIKE STOLTZ
COMMANDO by MARK L. LESTER
EDISON BAY by MICHIEL VAN BAKEL
A FLOWERING TREE by VIPIN VIJAY
FURIOUS 7 by JAMES WAN
ROBIJNROOD by MANON DE SUTTER
DESPAIR by RAINER WERNER FASSBINDER
ALMOST NOTHING: SO CONTINUES THE NIGHT by DAVOR SANVINCENTI
CANDYMAN by BERNARD ROSE
A FIRE IN MY BRAIN THAT SEPARATES US by BENJAMIN RAMÍREZ PÉREZ
FRIDAY NIGHT by GUL DHARMANI
THE AGE OF THE EARTH by GLAUBER ROCHA
WHEELS ON MEALS by SAMMO HUNG
THE READER by STEPHEN DALDRY
AMATEURS by NAVEEN PADMANABHA
AYESHA by YANYU DONG

Your top 3 favourite music tracks?:

I like these 3 but I like many others too:

TENNIS – ROBIN
KANYE WEST – HELL OF A LIFE
NUJABES FT. SHING02 – LUV(SIC) 1-6

7. What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever done?:

Drive.

8. What’s your greatest extravagance?:

Stationery.

9. What turns you on – creatively, spiritually or emotionally?:

A typical vacation or being alone for a while.

A final word?

不是钱是满满的爱
 

P.S. Do you have any favourites or highlights from this year’s Alchemy programme that you’d love to give a shoutout to here?

The 16mm film program Leslie Raymond is presenting from the last Ann Arbor Film Festival. I was there with FOREIGN QUARTERS so I saw most of those films. The ones I saw were really good.

Rajee’s FOREIGN QUARTERS will be shown at Alchemy in ELECTIVE AFFINITIES.